Tom Henheffer

Executive Director, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression

Tom Henheffer is the Executive Director of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, an organization that’s been protecting the right to free expression in Canada and around the world for more than 30 years.
Originally from New Brunswick, he’s an experienced reporter, videographer and entrepreneur who’s worked on everything from national news to TIFF to designing and patenting camera equipment. He’s worked in various roles at Maclean’s, the Toronto Star and various other publications around Canada.

The potential destruction of terrorism is infinitesimally smaller than the damage done to our rights by a disproportionate attempt to prevent it. Please. Please remember this. It's even more important now, when that fact is so easily forgotten in the wake of the attack on our Parliament and the tragic deaths of Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent and Cpl. Nathan Cirillo. We cannot allow the extreme actions of a few to strip us of the freedoms those soldiers worked so hard to protect. But the Canadian government continues to roll back our rights in the name of "security."

Not terrorists, white-collar crooks, or climate change -- it seems the real threat to Canadian society hides behind a much friendlier face: charities. Or to be more specific, charities critical of the Canadian government. This week it was made public that the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) is auditing PEN Canada for its "political activities." In 2012, the Canadian government earmarked $8 million of the CRA's budget for auditing political activities, and then upped that amount again to $13 million. In a time of austerity, there is still a plenty of money to go after enemies of our federal government.

A cold concrete floor in solitary confinement; No furniture, no bed, no neighbours -- except for an infestation of cockroaches. And, of course, that label: terrorist. Not for murder, or theft, or even political dissidence; these are the rewards one gets for practicing journalism in Egypt. These journalists are guilty only of doing their job and reporting honestly.